Flexible polymeric containers are extensively used throughout the food service industry for storing and dispensing soft drink syrups and other such beverages, as well as wine, dairy products, enteral feeding solutions, fruit juices, tea and coffee concentrates, puddings, cheese sauces, and many other flowable materials, including those that must be filled aseptically. Flexible polymeric containers typically have walls made of polymeric films with either a monolayer or multiple layer structure. The particular polymers constituting the container film layers vary depending on the type of material to be placed in the container. The film layers may also include an oxygen barrier material layer to prevent contact between such materials and oxygen or other gas sensitive contents. The walls of the containers may be metallized, or coated with a metallic layer such as aluminum to prevent incursion of oxygen or other gases.
The flexible polymeric containers may have inlets and/or spouts for filling and dispensing the container contents. The containers are also often placed within a corrugated paper box. Such packaging systems are commonly referred to as “bag-in-box” systems wherein the spout extends through an opening in the box to dispense the contents. Bag-in-box packaging systems are often used in restaurants, institutional food service centers, and convenience stores to facilitate service of liquid food products such as syrups, toppings, condiments, beverages and dairy products. These containers typically have a capacity of 1 to 6 gallons.
Once the container is filled with a desired flowable material, the spout is capped to seal the container and protect the contents from contamination. Depending on the type of contents, the container, spout and cap may be sterilized using steam, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), radiation or other suitable sterilizing methods prior to, during and after filling. In order to maximize the shelf life of such products, it is crucial that fitment assemblies provide a hermetic seal for the entire life cycle of the container.
One convenient method of dispensing the contents of flexible containers is to open the containers by piercing the cap used to seal the container or by piercing the container directly using a fluid transfer device. Examples of dispensing systems that use piercing are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,325,496, 6,378,730 and 7,980,424. A technique generally used in such dispensing systems is force the piercing element through the film of the flexible container. Disadvantages of this technique is that when the piercing element is forced too far into the container, it can pierce the opposite wall of the container and cause a leak and prevent the container from resealing and thereby causing spoilage of the product in the container. Also, if the wall of the container is not pierced, contact with the wall can substantially weaken the wall and later result in a break since often these flexible containers are subjected to stressful handling.
Usually, flexible containers are intended for one-time use and are discarded once the contents of such containers have been completely dispensed; the fitment assembly must be made of inexpensive material, easy to manufacture, quick to market and preferably recyclable. It is also desirable that the fitment assembly for use with such packaging systems simplifies access to the container's contents while also minimizing the potential for contamination of the contents. Preferably, the contents of the flexible containers can also be easily dispensed without tools or the like. It is also desirable that the fitment assembly can be adapted to standard and widely-used spout configurations and can be easily adapted to a flexible hose or tube. The dispensing mechanism must be reliable such that dispensing of the contents is achieved without wasting the liquid through leakage or uncontrolled opening of the connection component and the like.